tracking healthcare news and trends, in advocacy, reimbursement,
politics and the provision of care

July 22, 2009

Shad Ireland Races Toward Finish

By Peter Laird, MD

Shad Ireland is the first dialysis patient to ever compete and complete a full ironman competition. He is now within days of becoming the first dialysis patient to ride across the entire United States. Shad is now nearing the Virginia border in his journey that will end in Washington D.C.

Shad has traveled in this life from the doorstep of imminent death to the halls of health and achievement. Shad remains an inspiration to me as a fellow dialyzor and in my own walk in the steps that all dialysis patients face, I have found that adherence to exercise gives me my best days of feeling well. For those that continue to deny the gift of life that dialysis truly is, Shad stands tall as one of our greatest examples of human will in overcoming the disability of chronic kidney disease.

I continue to salute Shad Ireland and his quest to bring to light the full potential of a life lived well on dialysis. May God speed your final leg of this remarkable journey.